The final word on student groups

In the first of this series of posts about student groups, I noted that students often work harder to answer my requests than even I expect. This is an example: Fatema, Jessica (another one — not me), and Elise have given me a complete run-down of how student organizations fit into their Fletcher lives. Here’s what they have to say:

Fatema:
My name is Fatema, and I am an LLM student here at Fletcher. Alongside school, I have gotten involved with two online journals, Praxis and Al Nakhlah, as an editor and, I hope, future writer! This fall, students put together Asia Night where I taught two dances, Bhangra and Bollywood. I am also assisting with the annual New York Career Trip that’s coming up in January. I was elected as a student representative for the Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee, and I’m a member of the Harvard Law and Development Society, where we are writing up a memo on evaluations of land claims. I am also a part of the International Law Society, where we are creating an amicus curiae brief we hope to submit to the Inter American Court of Human Rights. On the side I go to school.

Jessica:
This fall, I organized a faculty coffee hour with Marc Sommers, an adjunct professor, to let students hear about his professional experiences working in the human security field. I am currently helping coordinate Global Women career events with alumni during the New York and Washington, DC career trips. And I am a member of a 10-person team of Harvard and Fletcher students working on a consultancy paper with the International Organization for Migration on Iraqi land restitution claims.

Elise:
I co-lead several clubs/organizations at Fletcher and, while it’s been a challenge to juggle schoolwork and all other demands on my time, I see this leadership experience as an integral component of my grad school experience.

This year, The Fletcher Forum has become my biggest commitment. As one of two managing editors, perhaps my key duty is to oversee the solicitations process, which means coordinating with our 20-plus staff editors on their efforts to solicit articles for the journal and maintaining an accurate tracking system. This role has also given me access to such prominent policymakers as the EU’s Catherine Ashton and João Vale de Almeida (the new EU ambassador to the United States), as well as authors such as Thomas de Waal. My interviews with these three figures will appear in the Forum’s winter issue, due out in January 2011.

Working closely with the Forum’s chief editor and my co-managing editor, as well with as our other editors and the Fletcher administration, has truly been one of the most rewarding elements of my Fletcher experience. Although the juggling act gets hectic, if I could do it all over, I wouldn’t change a thing.